SAN MARCOS  Lightweight boxer Ricky Gutierrez doesn’t fight under a nickname, but if he wanted one, “Comeback Kid” would be a good fit.

Three years ago, the 24-year-old San Marcos fighter lay bleeding in a Vista gym, his right leg shattered by a bullet fired by his jealous ex-trainer. The shooting left Gutierrez’s trainer, Hector Gil, dead, and another man wounded. Gutierrez wondered then if he’d ever walk, much less box, again.

But on Thursday, June 27, he’ll step into the ring in a four-round bout against Pablito Pantaleon at the Show Palace in Oceanside. Whether he wins or loses, Gutierrez says the fight will be a victory of perseverance.

A very good boy

Ari Soltani, who owns Legacy Boxing in Vista and is Gutierrez’s manager and mentor, first met the young fighter when Gutierrez was just 12 years old.

“His father, Raul, would bring him to the gym every day after school, all the way through high school,” said Soltani, who recalls the young Gutierrez as quiet and humble.

“He didn’t have a mean bone in his body,” Soltani said. “He was a very good boy.”

Gutierrez — who stands 5 feet, 8 inches tall and weighs 135 pounds — said he always dreamed of being a boxer.

“I was really athletic and I thought I had the skills,” he said. “I liked the glory of boxing — I love the feeling of winning.”

And Gutierrez won a lot. Jeff Nason, co-owner of L.A. Boxing in Carlsbad, where Gutierrez works full-time as a teacher and personal trainer, said the young boxer was an extremely promising amateur prospect, which made the 2010 tragedy that much worse.

“You wonder where he could’ve gone, and then that happened,” Nason said.

In January 2010, Gutierrez hired Mark Diaz, a burly and aggressive Vista boxing coach, as his manager. But Gutierrez broke his contract with Diaz after just a month.

“He was too possessive and he was writing contracts that were not realistic. And I was pretty sure he was on drugs,” said Gutierrez, who then signed with Gil, a pro who had taken several boxers to the top. “He was generous and kind and my father and he clicked right away.”

A few weeks later, Gutierrez had his first professional fight against Pablo Armenta. He lost the bout, but it was such a close match, there was talk of a rematch. Then, came what Gutierrez calls “the accident.”

Firecrackers

Diaz was furious at Gil for “stealing” Gutierrez and another boxer, and he vowed to get even. Spooked by the threatening calls, Gil dodged Diaz for weeks. But on the evening of April 7, Gil, 52, was relaxing in Soltani’s gym with friend Peter Moreno and Gutierrez, who had just finished a workout.

“I remember hearing gunshots behind me. They sounded like firecrackers,” Gutierrez recalled. “I turned around and saw a silhouette behind a gun and I instinctively got up and ran toward the middle of the gym. That’s when I got hit.”

Diaz fired six shots. One bullet went through Gil’s back and chest and lodged in Moreno’s shoulder, and another hit Gutierrez in the lower leg, smashing both the tibia and fibula. Gil died on the spot. Diaz was arrested the next morning and, after a May 2012 trial, sentenced to prison for 86 years to life.

Gutierrez was left devastated at the loss of Gil and crushed at his own prospects.

“When I hit the ground, I looked at my leg and my first thought was that I’d be in a wheelchair for the rest of my life.”

The road back

Gutierrez pulls up a pant leg to reveal a ribbon of scars that snake down his lower right leg. Doctors couldn’t repair the damage, so they replaced the bones with steel rods. He spent nearly six months in a hospital bed.

“It was hard to watch him,” Soltani said. “As the bones grew over the new rods, he was in the most agonizing pain. He took the pain killers at first, but after a while, he didn’t want them anymore. He just bore the pain like an animal. His willpower was so strong.”

Eight months after the shooting, Gutierrez walked for the first time. And three months later, he ran.

“People had counted me out, and I had my doubts, too, but the first day that I was able to run, I put it in my head that I would box again.”

L.A. Boxing’s Nason, veteran of four knee surgeries, said he never imagined Gutierrez could step into the ring again. But Nason was among the 1,200 family, friends and boxing fans who gathered at Oceanside’s Show Palace in October for Gutierrez’s first match since 2010. Gutierrez squared off against Jose Hernandez and won the bout, which a sports writer described as a decisive victory thanks to his powerful punches.

“It was an extremely emotional experience for me, but being surrounded by my family and friends really energized me,” Gutierrez said. “I wanted to give them a good show.”

The boxer said he’s in the best shape of his life for the match on June 27, his first since that October win. He works out six hours a day and runs four miles twice a day. His father makes him juice drinks and prepares his Spartan meals of fruit, vegetables and chicken. Soltani said Gutierrez’s strengths in the ring are his left hooks, speed and agility. “He’s very explosive and technical.”

But being physically fit is just half the battle.

“I’m mentally prepared,” he said. “That’s the most difficult part of all.”

Gutierrez says he would like to work his way up to 4 to 5 five fights a year, with the ultimate goal of winning a world championship.

He said he fights for two people — his father and his 3-year-old daughter, Isabella, who he is raising as a single father.

“I have to step up for my baby. She’s an angel,” he said.

In the meantime, he pays the bills teaching 10-12 classes a week at L.A. Boxing and doing personal training. One of his clients, Carlsbad resident Merryl Goldberg, describes Gutierrez as an encouraging coach.

“I could be his mother, but he takes our training very seriously,” she said. “He’s very intense and focused and he’s really a sweet guy.”

One day, Gutierrez said he’d like to own his own gym to help along the next generation of boxers.

“Teaching comes very naturally to me,” he said. “I think I have a lot of lessons I can pass on to others.”

pam.kragen@utsandiego.com

Postscript: Gutierrez won the boxing match on June 27, knocking out his opponent Pablito Pantaleon just 38 seconds into the first round.